ULTRASOUND ARTIFACTS

M .D. ALEJANDRO M ONTALVO

R1 RADIOLOGA E IM AGEN

DEFINICIN
ARTEFACTO
Se utiliza para describir cualquier parte de una
imagen que no representa con precisin las
estructuras anatmicas presentes en el sujeto que
est siendo evaluado.

Los equipos de ultrasonido se basan en

supuestos fsicos para asignar la ubicacin y la
intensidad de cada eco recibido.

SUPUESTOS ECOGRFICOS
1.- Los ecos detectados se originaron desde dentro del haz de
ultrasonidos principal.
2.- El eco vuelve al transductor despus de una sola reflexin.
3.- La profundidad de un objeto est directamente relacionada con el
tiempo que tarda en regresar el ultrasonido al transductor.
4.- La velocidad del sonido en el tejido humano es constante.
5.- El haz de sonido y su eco de viajes en lnea recta,
6.- La energa acstica en un campo de la ecografa es
uniformemente atenuada.

TIPOS DE ARTEFACTOS
Artifacts associated with ultrasound beam
characteristics.
Artifacts associated with multiple echoes.
Artifacts associated with velocity errors.
Artifacts associated with attenuation errors.

ARTIFACTS ASSOCIATED WITH ULTRASOUND

BEAM CHARACTERISTICS.

Ultrasound beam exits the transducer as a complex threedimensional bow-tie shape with additional off-axis lowenergy beams side lobes.

A strong reflector located outside of the main ultrasound

beam may generate echoes that are detectable by the
transducer. These echoes will be falsely displayed as
having originated from within the main beam.

BEAM WIDTH ARTIFACT

Caused due to the widening of the main beam after the

focal spot.

Image quality may be improved by adjusting the focal zone

to the level of interest and by placing the transducer at the
center of the object of interest.

LONGITUDINAL SCAN OF THE BLADDER

BEAM WIDTH ARTIFACT

SIDE LOBE ARTIFACTS

Side lobes are multiple beams of low-amplitude

ultrasound energy that project radially from the main
beam axis, mainly seen in linear-array transducers.

SIDE LOBE ARTIFACT

ARTIFACTS ASSOCIATED WITH MULTIPLE ECHOES

REVERBERATIONARTIFACTS

US assumes that an echo returns to the transducer after a

single reflection and that the depth of an object is related
to the time for this round trip.

In the presence of two parallel highly reflective surfaces,

the echoes generated from the ultrasound beam may be
repeatedly reflected back and forth before returning to the
transducer for detection.

RETORNO LENTO LUEGO

DE YA HABERSE REFLEJADO!

The echo that returns to the transducer after a single

reflection will be displayed in the proper location. The
sequential echoes will take longer to return to the
transducer, and the ultrasound processor will erroneously
place the delayed echoes at an increased distance from
the transducer.
At imaging, this is seen as multiple equidistantly spaced
linear reflections and is referred to as reverberation
artifact.

COMET TAIL ARTIFACT

Comet tail artifact is a form of reverberation.

In this artifact, the two reflective interfaces and thus

sequential echoes are closely spaced. On the display, the
sequential echoes may be so close together that
individual signals are not perceivable.

In addition, the later echoes may have decreased

amplitude secondary to attenuation; this decreased
amplitude is displayed as decreased width.

The result is an artifact caused by the principle of

reverberation but with a triangular, tapered shape.

RING DOWN ARTIFACT

In ring-down artifact, the transmitted ultrasound energy

causes resonant vibrations within fluid trapped between a
tetrahedron of air bubbles. These vibrations create a
continuous sound wave that is transmitted back to the
transducer. This phenomenon is displayed as a line or
series of parallel bands extending posterior to a gas
collection.

The display shows a bright reflector with an echogenic line extending

posteriorly.

Left lateral decubitus US image of the gallbladder shows air and fluid in the
duodenum causing ring-down artifact.

MIRROR IMAGE ARTIFACTS

Mirror image artifacts are also generated by the false

assumption that an echo returns to the transducer after a
single reflection.

In this artifact, the primary beam encounters a highly

reflective interface. The reflected echoes then encounter
the back side of a structure and are reflected back
toward the reflective interface before being reflected to
the transducer for detection.

ARTIFACTS ASSOCIATED WITH VELOCITY ERRORS

SPEED DISPLACEMENT ARTIFACT

When sound travels through material with a velocity

significantly slower than the assumed 1540 m/sec, the
returning echo will take longer to return to the transducer.

The image processor assumes that the length of time for a

single round trip of an echo is related only to the distance
traveled by the echo.

The echoes are thus displayed deeper on the image than

they really are.

This is referred to as the speed displacement artifact

This artifact is encountered when the ultrasound beam

encounters an area of focal fat.

REFRACTION ARTIFACTS

A change in velocity of the ultrasound beam as it travels

through two adjacent tissues with different density and
elastic properties may produce a refraction artifact.
In refraction, non-perpendicular incident ultrasound
energy encounters an interface between two materials
with different speeds of sound. When this occurs, the
incident ultrasound beam changes direction.

The ultrasound display assumes that the beam travels in

a straight line and thus misplaces the returning echoes to
the side of their true location.

ARTIFACTS ASSOCIATED WITH ATTENUATION

ERRORS

When the ultrasound beam encounters a focal material

that attenuates the sound to a greater
or lesser extent than in the surrounding tissue, the
strength of the beam distal to this structure will be either
weaker or stronger than in the surrounding field.

IMPORTANTE PARA REALIZAR DIAGNOSTICOS

DIFERENCIALES ECOGRAFICOS

Attenuation is also dependent on the frequency of the

ultrasound. Attenuation increases with increase in
frequency.
In soft tissues, the relationship between attenuation and
frequency is linear. In bone and water, attenuation
increases as the square of the frequency. In clinical
imaging, the different tissues an ultrasound beam
encounters attenuate the beam differently.

REFERENCES

US Artifacts. Myra K. Feldman, Sanjeev Katyal, Margaret

S. Blackwood. Radiographics, 2009.
RadioGraphics.